Blooming Origin
by Phraser
Summary: With the sudden roar of an engine, he watched as gravel flew and the nice lady with the sad blue eyes sped away, gone from his life forever more.


_**A/N: **This fan-fiction takes place before Tick decided that his destiny is to be a superhero, before he ever reaches The City, and well before he meets Arthur or any of his other super chums that we all know and love. It's based more so on The Tick comic books than it is the cartoon, but seeing as there isn't a category for that one yet, it might as well be placed here.  
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_**Disclaimer: **Tick, Cloris, and the Evanston Clinic are the creative property of Ben Edlund and not me._

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**Cloris** \c-lo-ris\ as a girl's name is pronounced _KLOR-iss_. It is of Greek origin, and the meaning of Cloris is "to bloom".

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They were moving too fast.

At least, that's what the nice lady with the sad blue eyes had told him time and time again.

Her name was Cloris and although he hadn't quite understood what she meant by that statement, they soon found themselves married within the very same week that they first shook hands. Tick couldn't recall getting married to his pretty newfound friend, though to hear the nice lady with the sad blue eyes describe the occasion, he really wished that he could. Cloris would go on about it for hours on end, not that Tick particularly minded. He'd listen politely, resting his head on her lap, allowing her to stroke his cheek and fiddle gently with his antennas as she weaved images of magnificent ivory gowns into his mind. He'd grin up at her as she talked, enjoying the attention and marveling at the demure little woman's wordy prowess.

Although the jolly blue giant of a man couldn't remember ever actually marrying Cloris, when he'd gaze up at her and those brilliant baby blue eyes, he couldn't imagine himself saying anything other than "I do". These two simple words must have made Cloris particularly happy, because it was only when she talked of them and the celebration that surrounded and followed that her eyes began to shine and sparkle with life and for one precious moment, they no longer looked so incredibly sad..

Tick liked Cloris' eyes.

Tick liked Cloris.

The one thing Tick didn't like about the kind and soft-spoken woman with her mousey brown hair, her all too sensible shoes and dainty, fidgety fingers, was when she was sad. Her baby blue orbs would dull with sorrow and her habitually chewed bottom lip would tremble under the weight of all her lifelong misery. ..No, Tick didn't like that at all. Cloris was his wife now, but most importantly, she was his friend. He liked her a great deal and when you like someone, you want to make them happy. With Cloris, making her happy just meant making her his wife. Tick didn't understand why marriage was so incredibly important to the nice lady with the sad blue eyes, but he was more than happy to oblige. And anyway, isn't that what men and women are supposed to do when they're friends? They get married?

The ever oblivious Tick was just grateful that his newly found friend was so easy to please.

Tick had a history of disappointing his friends, and he'd hate to make those same mistakes with Cloris. If a wedding was all it took to make the nice lady happy, well- They could have a wedding every day of their lives! The nice lady with the sad blue eyes said that marriage didn't work like that, and if he really wanted to make her happy, then he'd give her a baby. This had troubled the jolly blue giant greatly, as he had no idea where he could look to find a baby. All the ones that he knew of were already being used, and he somehow doubted that taking one for a day or two was all that great an idea. When he conveyed this problem to the nice lady with the sad blue eyes, she tilted her head, that small, unsure smile of hers gracing her chapped and perpetually worried lips. Cloris laughed softly, hollowly.. "You're funny, Nick."

"Tick."

She shook her head and focused on washing the dishes, suddenly chewing her bottom lip furiously, that peculiar smile of hers waning. "You're funny." She muttered."You're funny."

Life marched on for Tick and Cloris just as life is forever bound to do. Cloris grew all the more agitated and harder to please, while Tick grew all the more confused and desperate to keep his pretty friend happy. "Why can't you just tell me who you really are?" she had once asked- No, _demanded_, her fists clenched up tight, her face pink and wet with frustration.

Tick sighed inwardly; clearly, Cloris was having another one of what he had come to deem as her 'fits' again- When she'd get all mad and begin to cry while throwing pointy silverware at him. These fits were most often accompanied by ridiculous questions, like why'd he throw out all his suits, what's with the costume, or where had he been these past few days. "I've already told you who I really am." Is what the self-proclaimed arachnid insisted, "I'm the Tick."

This served only to make poor Cloris cry even harder.

Tick didn't mean to make her cry; really, he didn't. It just seemed to happen, and happen all the more often as their time together went on. Tick was so very sorry, and he told her just that.

Having finally cried herself to the point of exhaustion, Cloris wearily pressed her back against the wall, where she allowed what little weight she had to slowly slide down to the comfortingly steady and perfectly stable kitchen floor. Some stability, after all, was what she craved the most. Cloris sighed, dabbed at her eyes with the already snot-drenched bit of her sleeve, and hugged her knees tight.

Tick cautiously crept towards her, where he awkwardly joined Cloris' at her side and mimicked her pose quite accurately. He sighed as well, though it sounded somewhat hollow when compared to her own. While Cloris had sighed with sorrow, disappointment, guilt... Tick had merely sighed in sympathy. He knew what the nice lady with the sad blue eyes was feeling, but he just couldn't understand why she was feeling it.

"Don't be sorry" she finally said, her voice hushed and raspy after hours upon hours of yelling out her frustrations. "It's my fault for trying to make this work."

As always, the jolly blue giant had no idea what the nice lady was talking about. ..Still, it hurt him to see his newfound friend in such obvious distress. Tick reached for her hand. Mindful of his abnormal strength, he gave the delicate little thing a gentle squeeze. "If it isn't working, then.. Then maybe it just needs a bit of fixing..?" Tick was no handyman, but for Cloris, he'd certainly try his best.

Cloris' mouth fell open slightly. For a moment, she could do nothing but stare into blank space. It wasn't long before her baby blue orbs were once again glazed over with soon-to-be-shed tears.

Tick wondered what he did to upset her this time.

The nice lady with the sad blue eyes leaned towards him and whispered the truth that she would never admit to having known all along. "You can't fix what was never really there" was what she said, and Cloris wrapped her arms around him, holding the man tighter than she ever did before. "I should never have pretended otherwise."

What the self-proclaimed arachnid didn't realize was that Cloris was just as sorry as he was, if not more.

As far as the terribly regretful woman was concerned, she had taken advantage of a kindhearted overgrown child; a child that always seemed to wear the same gaudy skin-tight costume day in and day out, and thought of himself as some sort of giant arachnid. Indeed, she had taken advantage of a kindhearted overgrown child that was most obviously insane...and for what? That silly cliché dream of a white picket fence, a husband and children.

As years had rolled on by and Cloris grew older, her dream seemed to grow with her in the worst possible way.. It seemed to grow all the more out of arm's reach. Cloris feared that she'd never feel the love of a man, a child, or anything at all, really. She would never be a mother. She would never truly be a wife. These dark thoughts hurt her. Cloris sucked in a breath and willed them away. Now was not the time to worry about her silly dreams.

She had dragged this poor man into the soap opera that was her life, and now it was her duty to get him out of it. This unfortunate and wonderfully kindhearted man was her responsibility now. Cloris would ensure that he'd get all the help that he so obviously needed. After having to put up with her for so long, she at least owed him that much.

And so, the very next day, the nice lady was nicer then she'd ever been before. She treated the self-proclaimed arachnid to his favorite meal (ketchup and hotdogs cut in the shape of little octopi), joined him in watching his favorite Saturday morning cartoons, and made no comment on his usual unusual attire. ..Which, by the way, was quite unusual for her. Eventually, though, it was time for that one last car ride.

"Where are we going?" The giant queried in his excitement, sticking his head out the window and marveling at the sights, the smells, the incredible speed of an automobile.

Cloris couldn't bring herself to face him. Sitting rigidly, eyes focused on the road before her, the remorseful woman could do nothing but lie, lie, and lie some more. "You're going on vacation" is what she told him.

"Just me?"

"Just you."

"Well.. Why not you as well?"

She bit into her lower lip, fighting back the tears that came so easily these days. "I can't come with you, Tick" is what she said, this being the very first time she'd ever allowed herself to voice the name he insisted upon. "You're going to a place made specially for people like you." And this was true.

He pulled his head back into the car and looked at her slowly, steadily, "What do you mean, 'people like me'?"

Cloris flinched, her grip on the steering wheel tightening until her knuckles turned white. "People just like you.."

They pulled up through the iron gates left wide open like the gaping mouth of a concrete beast, as if Evanston Clinic was expecting them. Cloris found this to be suitably so, as the asylum was well known as a place for people that nobody knows what to do with. It was a place for Tick. She slowed the vehicle to a stop in front of the over-sized concrete porch.

Cloris breathed a sigh, rubbed her temples, and asked her companion to kindly step out of the car.

As always, Tick did just what was asked of him.

With the sudden roar of an engine, he watched as gravel flew in and the nice lady sped away, gone from his life forever more.

He stared on after her, heart aching and missing her company already.


End file.
